DNN SSL: Securing the Login, Register, Admin and Host Pages

Posted by Tom on Thursday, May 22, 2008 to DotNetNuke, Ecommerce, DNN Tips and Tricks

I am trying to SSL enable the Login, Register, Admin and Host pages, however, I see no way to do that in DotNetNuke. I am using version 4.8.2, and when I go to the pages section under admin I see no Register, Login or admin/host pages listed there.
So this begs the question, how do you mark the Secure Login checkbox on those pages when they aren't visible in the pages listing?

The other day I came across the above question on the dotnetnuke.com forum and it felt like a good opportunity to revisit the topic as its been well over a year since I first blogged about it.

Most of you are probably aware of the fact that native SSL support made its way into DNN with version 4.5.4. And right around that time John Mitchell published a short and sweet tutorial that shows you how to take advantage of the DNN’s new SSL capabilities and I urge you to first digest John’s post before following along here.

As you may have noticed, John’s walkthrough doesn’t directly address the common scenario of securing the DNN Login, Register, Admin, and Host pages, which is not as simple as you might expect. To SSL secure the Login and Register pages follow these steps:

1. Create “custom” Login and Register pages by adding 2 new pages to your website.
2. Drop the Account Login module onto your new Login page and drop the User Account module onto your new Register page.
3. Then tell DNN about your newly created Login and Register pages by pointing to them via Admin > Site Settings > Advanced Settings > Page Management.
4. Finally, mark the 2 pages as “Secure” via Page Settings > Advanced Settings > Other Settings > Secure as described in John’s tutorial.

Again, not as straightforward as it should be, but it certainly works.

What about the Admin and Host pages you say? Well, that’s a totally different dilemma, which I have not figured out yet - short of “hacking” the Tabs database table directly. And even that I have not tested yet, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. What certainly works is a 3rd party component that I’ve come to rely on (food for another blog post.)

With that said, does DNN support SLL natively? It sure does, but as with many initial attempts, it’s a little rough around the edges. What I would like to see in Cambrian (also known as DNN 5) is 3 additional checkboxes under Admin > Site Settings > Advanced Settings > SSL Settings to secure the Login, Register, and Admin pages. Will that work or does it spell trouble for multi-portal installations? What about the Host pages? Suggestions anyone?

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